I'm pretty much in love with my new hat. And yes - I know I just said that about another hat. It's not that I'm a fickle hat lover - it's that I actually - and sadly -have misplaced that hat (I'm not calling it 'lost' yet). A bummer to be sure. But - it also gave me the perfect excuse to knit myself another new hat. A silver lining!
The pattern is the "urchin beret" from Twinkle's Weekend Knits: 30 Fast Designs for Fun Getaways. It's a beautiful book, and the designs really are unique - but wearable. Wearable is important. I've been itching to make a sweater, and I think it might just come from this book - I'm deciding between the Nimbus or the Cloudburst. Such fun names, aren't they? And it just occurred to me (sometimes I'm slow to catch on to these things) where the name "urchin beret' comes from for this hat. It totally does look like a sea urchin from the top! And how much do I love the thought of walking around with a little bit of the ocean on me in the middle of the winter, even if only in theory? So much.
(all of these photos are by my very talented and sweet Steve by the way.)
I do realize (now) that I've knit myself more than a few green hats over the years. But - leave me wandering in a yarn shop with no pre-determined plan and there's a likely chance I'll walk out of there with some green yarn. (This is Cascade Magnum, from KnitWit - a favorite local yarn spot.)
Oh, and, this book is aptly titled - particularly on the 'fast' part. This hat - knit on gigantic size 17 needles - was finished before the end of a movie. (Jules et Jim - oh my gosh, I love that movie - I could listen to this over and over.) Anyway, that's a fast knit. I don't really think of knitting as something that needs to or even should be done fast, but sometimes it's kind of fun when it is. Especially when there's snow in the forecast (and in Maine this winter, when isn't snow in the forecast?), and I want to wear my new favorite hat. Like, today, for example.
(Hang in there, local peeps & similarly snowed-over friends! Spring will come. And for now, we have some beautiful snow. This is my February mantra.)
